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StarterYou generally do a swell job. Honestly. I mean it. DJ is a HUGE improvement over Rusty Wallace - maybe the biggest upgrade in NASCAR since Kyle Busch replaced J.J. Yeley. Love all of the pit lane reporters. AB does a great job, especially since he's dealing with Mutt and Jeff in the studio spot.
Having said all that - WHAT was with you guys Sunday? Specifically, why didn't ONE person on the ENTIRE broadcast, see fit to mention that, in reality, what happened to Dale Earnhardt Jr. WASN'T SO BAD? Do you realize that there was ONE place for Junior to finish that would have made his Sunday REALLY matter? (That would be FIRST-place, btw.) Junior is basically IN the Chase - it's time for him to go checkers-or-wreckers, baby! Is there NO ONE on TV who gets that?
I mean, *I* get it. Junior and Tony Eury Jr. seemed to get it based on their strategy. They were going for the WIN. Period. You guys seemed to get that when Jimmie Johnson was in the Nationwide race Saturday. Where was that thinking Sunday? Does NASCAR muzzle you guys so you won't write-off the top few drivers? What's the deal? It's not like it's a BAD thing - you could have revisited the point when Kyle Busch was trying to hold off Tony Stewart - Tony needed the POINTS because he was ninth in the standings, but Kyle needed the WIN because that's all that matters for him until the Chase.
Of course, since you didn't *visit* the point, I suppose *revisiting* it was impossible, then.
Head-scratchingly yours,
JJD
SPRINT CUP (DRIVERS)
Rank Points LW
1 Kyle Busch 263 1
2 Carl Edwards 204 2
3 Jimmie Johnson 174 3
4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 147 4
5 Tony Stewart 135 7
6 Denny Hamlin 128 6
7 Jeff Gordon 126 5
8 Kasey Kahne 114 8
9 Greg Biffle 108 9
10 Matt Kenseth 107 10
11 Jeff Burton 106 10
12 Clint Bowyer 96 12
13 Kevin Harvick 87 13
14 Kurt Busch 66 16
15 David Ragan 65 14
16 Ryan Newman 64 15
17 Martin Truex Jr. 62 18
Brian Vickers 62 17
19 Mark Martin 50 19
20 Elliott Sadler 45 20
Last week, I casually mentioned that the Woo Brothers had finally led a lap in 2008, scoring their first JJD point of the season. Well, that must have made them hungry for more, because incredibly Marcos Ambrose finished third in the Wood Brothers Ford Sunday. It was a parity-filled finishing order, with nine teams in the top-eleven finishing spots. Only Joe Gibbs Racing, with their cars finishing 1-2-8, broke through with a good day across the board.
Also, A.J. Allemndinger finished 11th to put his #84 Red Bull Toyota into the top-35 for the first time, an incredible accomplishment given how difficult it is to get out of GOGH-land.
SPRINT CUP (TEAMS)
Rank Points
1 Joe Gibbs Racing 378
2 Hendrick Motorsports 313
3 Roush Fenway Racing 286
4 Richard Childress Racing 200
5 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 136
6 Penske Racing 113
7 Dale Earnhardt Inc. 107
8 Red Bull Racing Team 68
9 Chip Ganassi Racing 66
10 Yates Racing 49
11 Michael Waltrip Racing 28
12 Robby Gordon Motorsports 18
13 Hall of Fame Racing 15
Wood Brothers Racing 15
15 Petty Enterprises 13
Bill Davis Racing 13
17 Haas CNC Racing 5
18 Furniture Row Racing 2
19 Front Row Motorsports 1
No Fear Racing 1
For those of you keeping track, that puts Ambrose in company with Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Scott Wimmer as Nationwide-only drivers (though Ambrose does have those two pesky Cup starts) to win in 2008. And we need to change the series, why, exactly?
Also, Kyle Busch got into a car that had never seen the track for a team making their series debut Saturday. Naturally, he finished second, extending his JJD points lead.
NATIONWIDE SERIES
Rank Points LW
1 Kyle Busch 249 1
2 Clint Bowyer 189 2
3 Carl Edwards 166 3
4 Brad Keselowski 156 4
5 Denny Hamlin 143 5
6 Tony Stewart 124 6
7 David Reutimann 114 7
8 Kevin Harvick 105 10
9 David Ragan 100 9
10 David Stremme 98 8
11 Scott Wimmer 91 11
12 Mike Bliss 80 12
13 Joey Logano 77 13
14 Marcos Ambrose 71 18
15 Jason Leffler 66 15
16 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 64 14
17 Greg Biffle 57 16
18 Jeff Burton 54 17
19 Brian Vickers 47 19
Matt Kenseth 47 23
Kudos to Carl Edwards, btw. If you had to take someone out of the race Saturday, Clint Bowyer was as good as anyone. Anything to tighten up the points-race.
NATIONWIDE SERIES (TEAMS)
Rank Car# Owner Points
1 20 Joe Gibbs Racing 305
Drivers: T. Stewart (8 starts), J. Logano (8), D. Hamlin (5), Ky. Busch (3)
2 2 Richard Childress Racing 189
Driver: C. Bowyer (24 starts)
3 18 Joe Gibbs Racing 171
Driver: Ky. Busch (10 starts), D. Hamlin (1)
4 60 Roush Fenway Racing 166
Driver: C. Edwards (24 starts)
5 88 JR Motorsports 156
Driver: B. Keselowski (24 starts)
6 29 Richard Childress Racing 145
Drivers: S. Wimmer (14 starts), J. Burton (10)
7 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. 133
Drivers: K. Harvick (15 starts), C. Gale (7), R. Hornaday (2)
8 5 JR Motorsports 124
Drivers: L. Cassill (11 starts), D. Earnhardt Jr. (7), M. Martin (2), M. Truex Jr. (1), A. Fernandez (1),
J. Johnson (1), R. Fellows (1)
9 32 Braun Racing 118
Drivers: Ky. Busch (7 starts), D. Hamlin (6), J. Buescher (5), B. Vickers (4), M. Jourdain (1), J. Villeneuve (1)
10 99 Michael Waltrip Racing 114
Driver: D. Reutimann (24 starts)
11 6 Roush Fenway Racing 100
Driver: D. Ragan (24 starts)
64 Rusty Wallace Inc. 100
Driver: D. Stremme (21 starts), M. Papis (3)
13 16 Roush Fenway Racing 87
Drivers: G. Biffle (10 starts), C. Braun (5), J. McMurray (3)
14 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 80
Drivers: K. Kahne (8 starts), C. Miller (8), P. Carpentier (6), E. Sadler (2)
15 59 JTG Racing 71
Driver: M. Ambrose (24 starts)
NATIONWIDE SERIES POINTS RESET ELIMINATING SPRINT CUP RACE WINNERS
Rank Points
1 Brad Keselowski 3743
2 David Ragan 3626
3 David Reutimann 3589
4 Mike Bliss 3480
5 Mike Wallace 3249
6 Jason Leffler 3213
7 Marcos Ambrose 3176
8 Jason Keller 3136
9 Steve Wallace 3049
10 David Stremme 2990
11 Kelly Bires 2908
12 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 2849
13 Brad Coleman 2728
14 Kenny Wallace 2586
15 Scott Wimmer 2296
Rank Points
1 Brad Keselowski 272
2 David Ragan 234
3 David Reutimann 231
4 Mike Bliss 190
5 David Stremme 176
6 Scott Wimmer 151
7 Jason Leffler 134
8 Marcos Ambrose 112
9 Joey Logano 104
10 Mike Wallace 98
11 Jason Keller 95
12 Steve Wallace 85
13 Kelly Bires 78
14 Dario Franchitti 73
15 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 66
There was a Craftsman Truck Series race Saturday at Nashville? Why would NASCAR put a Truck Series race the same day as a Nationwide race? How am I supposed to remember that? Johnny Benson won, making it three-in-a-row and extending his JJD points lead over Ron Hornaday, who finished fifth.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
Rank Points LW
1 Johnny Benson 178 1
2 Ron Hornaday 165 2
3 Matt Crafton 125 3
4 Todd Bodine 116 5
5 Erik Darnell 113 6
6 Kyle Busch 109 4
7 Jack Sprague 84 8
8 Mike Skinner 83 7
9 David Starr 72 9
10 Rick Crawford 66 10
While Toyotas won two of the three races this weekend, Ford had a surprisingly good all-around weekend themselves, with Marcos Ambrose finishing first and third and Erik Darnell finishing second in the Truck race. In fact, it was a pretty parity-filled weekend (paritous?), as even Dodge put a finisher in the top-seven all weekend.
MANUFACTURERS
Rank Points LW
1 Toyota 1142 1
2 Chevrolet 1007 2
3 Ford 810 3
4 Dodge 452 4